Why It Matters: Kentucky’s sportsmen and women were faced with several bills during the 2024 legislative session, both positive and negative, that would impact their ability to enjoy our time-honored traditions. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) had a seat at the table in Frankfort working on these bills to protect and promote Kentucky’s rich sporting heritage. CSF worked alongside the Kentucky Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus (Caucus) and partners to defeat anti-sportsmen legislation and advance pro-sportsmen legislation in the Commonwealth.
Highlights:
- Senate Bill 3 would have (1) administratively attached the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) to the Department of Agriculture and (2) authorized the Commissioner of Agriculture to appoint all members of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission.
- Senate Bill 60 would have allowed residents and nonresidents to obtain a hunting license or permit without taking a hunter safety education course.
- House Bill 357, sponsored by over a dozen Caucus Members, successfully prohibited payment card networks from requiring or incentivizing the use of a Merchant Category Code that distinguishes a firearm retailer from other retailers.
With threats to fish and wildlife commissions becoming common across the country, the sportsmen and women of Kentucky were faced with their own challenges regarding the KDFWR and the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission. Senate Bill 3 would have (1) administratively attached the KDFWR to the Department of Agriculture and (2) authorized the Commissioner of Agriculture to appoint all members of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission. While agriculture and sporting communities share similar interests, agricultural priorities may conflict with professional, science-based fish and wildlife management. CSF submitted multiple letters of opposition, testified in committee, coordinated an action alert with conservation partners, and coordinated with the Caucus to oppose Senate Bill 3. Thanks to unified opposition from the sportsmen’s community, Senate Bill 3 was defeated, protecting wildlife management in Kentucky from the intrusion of agricultural interests.
Senate Bill 60 was a misguided bill that would have allowed residents and nonresidents to obtain a hunting license or permit without first taking a hunter safety education course. Currently, all 50 states require a hunter safety education course. Many states, Kentucky included, even require a hunter education range day where hunters can showcase their firearm safety skills and learn how to safely handle a firearm before heading afield. CSF submitted comments opposing Senate Bill 60 and worked with the Caucus to ensure that the legislation did not advance. Kentucky hunters will still be required to take a hunter safety education course, safeguarding Kentuckians’ ability to safely enjoy our time-honored traditions.
House Bill 357 passed by large margins in both chambers and soon after became law without Governor Beshear’s signature. This piece of pro-sportsmen legislation will protect the financial privacy of Kentucky’s hunters and recreational shooters by prohibiting payment card networks from requiring or incentivizing the use of a Merchant Category Code that distinguishes a firearm retailer from other retailers. With the ability to purchase firearms and ammunition at the center of our time-honored traditions, legislation to support sportsmen and women’s financial privacy when purchasing sporting purchases is critical. CSF submitted comments supporting House Bill 357 and worked alongside the Caucus and the National Shooting Sports Foundation to protect Kentucky’s hunters and recreational shooters.
In addition to achieving multiple policy wins during the 2024 session, the Caucus also hosted a successful Policy Brunch in February. Led by National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses Executive Council Member and former President, Senator Robin Webb, legislators and partners met at the statehouse to discuss issues impacting Kentucky’s sporting heritage.
CSF thanks the Kentucky Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and its strong in-state and national partners for their work to protect Kentucky’s sporting heritage during the 2024 Regular Session.
